Extensible collar neckband



Aug. 22, 1961 T. D. AINSLIE EXTENSIBLE COLLAR NECKBAND Filed Aug. 25, 1958 INVENTOR.

n te St t Pa aO 4,996,723 y, -EXTENSIBIJE-COLLAR NECKBAND I Thomas Dow Ainslie, Metu chen, NAL, assignor to Phillips- Van Heusen CorporatiomNew York, N.Y., a corpora- -tion of ew York w iIeiI'AiigI'ZSIIQSS; S'erl'NoZ 756,790

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-127) This invention relates to shirt collars and to neckbands which either form a part of the collar or to which the collar is adapted to be attached. It is one of the objects of the invention to provide a collar and a neckband for co-operation therewith and in which elasticity or expansibility will be provided in order to enable the collar and the band to which it is attached, to expand or stretch under reasonable pressure during wear, thus not only afiording comfort to the wearer, but acting to provide a well-fitting, neatly-appearing neckline.

It is an object of the invention to provide a collar having a marginal edge area for attachment to or insertion in a neck-band, and which area shall be so constructed that it will stretch or expand under relatively light pressure and retract to its normal size upon relief of the pressure. It is an object of the invention to provide a neck-band which can form a part of a shirt to which a collar is permanently attached, and to provide a collar so attached, with the neck-band and its attached collar having their areas which surround theneck of the wearer, elastically stretchable to provide a wellfitting, neat-looking collar.

It is another object of the invention to provide a collar which shall be, in whole or in part, longitudinally stretchable.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

FIG. 1 is a front elevational View of a portion of a shirt, and of a collar attached thereto, and in which the invention is embodied;

FIG. 2 is a face view of the improved collar;

FIG. 3 is a face view of a neckband, embodying the invention and as attached to a shirt, and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view in perspective, showing a portion of the neck-band and the collar attached thereto.

In FIG. 1 of the drawing is shown a shirt or other garment having the conventional shirt-body 1 provided with a neck-band 2 to which a collar 3 is attached in any known manner, such as by the line of stitching indicated at 10.

The collar 3 is shown in FIG. 2 and the same, in the form illustrated, may have its major portion constructed in the usual manner of woven textile fabric and the same may be of one or more plies of such fabric. A portion of the collar, or that area which is located between the lines 6 and 7 is made elastically extensible or stretchable, such result being obtained by the incorporation in the fabric of the collar body of stretchable warp threads 8, or threads which extend longitudinally of the collar body for the length of the collar. Such warp threads can be composed of rubber or of synthetic rubber, or they can be composed of synthetic elastic yarn material, and particularly such material which is crimped or undulated and hence has considerable elasticity or stretch under relatively light pressure. Some of these stretchable threads can be cotton or rayon-wrapped and the same will stretch under relatively light pressure and upon relief of such pressure will retract promptly to their original length.

The expansible area produced in the collar can vary Fate'nted Aug. 22, 1961 located adjacent to the; marginal edge 7,- or in thearea de'Si'gHatedaS-S, and which area-constitutes the portion of a he collar that jisinserted in the neckband 2 and secured ihereiri by the line of stitching 10,'substantially as shown in FIG. 4. The area in which the expansible threads 8 are located also extends beyond the marginal portion 5 and preferably to some slight extent, and such area includes that in which the fold line 4 of the collar is located. That is to say, the area of stretch of the collar can extend into the collar body beyond the point where the collar extends into the neck-band, for approximately one-quarter to one-half of an inch more or less. This arrangement serves to provide expansibility of the collar around the line of fold 4, or at the part of the collar where it engages with the neck of the wearer.

In FIG. 3 is shown the portion of the shirt 1 provided with the neck-band 2. It will be therein noted that the neck-band 2 is provided with expansible warp threads 11, similar to those shown at 8 incorporated in the collar. This arrangement is such that when the collar is attached to the neckband, such as by the stitching 10, the neck-band can stretch co-extensively with the collar. The stitching 10 must also be of elastic nature so that the same will not restrict or impede the stretching action of either the collar or the neckband to which the collar is attached.

While I have herein shown a specific arrangement of the expansible threads in both the collar and neckband, and the arrangement of such threads in a specified locality, various modifications are possible. That is to say, while I have shown the expansible threads in a portion only of the collar body, or located in and around the area of the attachment of the collar to the neck-band, the entire collar may receive the expansible threads, as distinguished from locating such threads in only a given area of the collar. Also, while I have shown the neckband as attached to the shirt, and the collar stitched to the neck-band, the neckband and collar may be integrally made and the elastic threads incorporated in such integral neckband as well as in any selected area of the collar. In such an arrangement, the seam produced by the stitching 10 will be eliminated. Also, while I have shown the shirt neck-band as being expansible, it is possible to employ an expansible collar on a non-expansible neckband. This is done by providing an inexpansible neck-band a bit larger than the unstretched collar so that the band will be arched slightly while the collar is in its unstretched condition, but will flatten out smoothly against the neck when the collar is in its stretched condition of wear.

It will be apparent that the extent of stretch of a collar constructed as described can be regulated according to the extent of stretch of the threads incorporated in the collar and/or neck-band. For example, a 3% stretch on a number 15 band would give approximately .35 of an inch expansion, while a band constructed to give 10% stretch would give an inch and one-half extension.

By a construction as herein described, wherein a collar band and/ or a collar is provided with an elastic or expansible area, stretchable under reasonable neck pressure, the collar will adjust itself to the neck, be comfortable in wear and provide a neat fit.

Having described an embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claim.

What I claim is:

In a shirt of woven fabric having a turn-down collar including a neckband, said collar and said neckband being made of multiply fabric, said neckband having an upper and a lower margin, the upper edge of the shirt being included between the plies of the neclgband at the lower edge thereof and a longitudinal edge of each of the collar plies being included between the plies of the neckband at the upper margin thereof, said longitudinal edges of the collar plies and the upper margin of the neckband being secured together by elastic stitching, the portions of the plies of the collar adjacent the neckband and the plies of said neckband having elastic means longitudinally incorporated therein to permit longitudinal extension thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain May 16, 1934 

